Harry Potter and the Manipulations of Dumbledore
by kimoguy
Summary: AU. Grey!Harry, Manipulative!Dumbledore. Harry finds out that his whole life has been one huge manipulation. and he's out to settle it... on his own terms, and if he can have fun while doing that, so much the better!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Do I own Harry Potter? Umm.. No. sorry.

Chapter 1: Untitled

Harry Potter sighed as he looked out of the window of the smallest room in Number 4, Privet Drive. The sight was almost surreal, what with the birds chirping happily, the gentile wind running against the trees, and the children playing along the sidewalk without a care in the world. It seemed at though that the gods have completely forgotten about the reason why Harry was in a depressed stupor: Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, and the closest thing to a parental figure that he had, had died just two weeks previous.

Every time Harry thought about the circumstances which led to his godfather's death, he felt remorse for having been fooled into coming to the Ministry of Magic to save Sirius from torture by the hands of Tom Riddle, or more commonly known as Lord Voldemort. Of course, now, looking back, it was an obvious trap. How could Voldemort have managed to get Sirius, since he was trapped in his own prison, courtesy of the esteemed Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore…. Whenever Harry thought about what that man put him through, he would forget his grief, and was replaced with malice for the man who ruined his life from the day he placed young Harry on the Dursley's doorstep, claiming it was "for the greater good." Harry realized soon after the revelation of the prophesy that his whole life had been one big manipulation by the master of puppets.

'From my first year in Hogwarts, Dumbledore has been molding me into his perfect little weapon that he could control to end the war with Riddle. How is it that the "_greatest wizard in the world_" managed to let a servant of Voldemort into school not once, but twice,' Harry wondered to himself, but found the answer:

'Isn't it a bit strange that Dumbledore manages to be away from the school in the time when the situation was desperate and needed him, like in my first year? Also, in second year, he manages to find us a useless teacher for DADA, who likes talking looking at himself rather than actually teaching. In fourth year, The fake Moody makes a portkey and takes me to Voldie to give him his body back. How, then, is Dumbledore still headmaster of the school he fails to protect from harm internally? And if that one didn't take the cake, then this does: last year Dumbledore never once talked to me, deciding that it would be dangerous to do so, but insists I learn Occlumency with Snape, who completely detests my existence, with no explanation as to why it is important for me to master it. I swear… if that man continues to control me life, I am going to go insane!'

"If that prophesy is to be believed, then I cannot wait for the old man to deign me worthy of being trained. I have to take the initiative and train myself… and to do that, I need books and a way for me to pr---"

At the moment, a sudden movement in the sky. As the movement got closer, he noticed that three owls were heading straight for him. He recognized his own owl, Hedwig, along with two others he didn't. As they landed, Harry relieved the owl's of their burdens, and the two unknown owls took off with an air of importance around them.

"Hedwig, where did you go off to," Harry asked.

Hedwig just looked at him with her amber eyes that basically said "open the package"

Harry did just that and he noticed on the envelope attached to the package was his friend, Hermione's, small, neat handwriting. Harry read the letter:

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm sorry if I disturbed you. Professor Dumbledore told Ron and me that you wanted to be left alone this summer because of Sirius' death. I wanted to let you know that Sirius would never want you to blame yourself for what happened. If I know you like I think I do, then you are probably blaming yourself. __**It is not your fault! **__ If it is anybody's fault, blame Voldemort. You need to hang in there, Harry. _

_I did some research and found out that this book I sent with this letter will help you with your Occlumency training. Harry, I know you never liked Professor Snape, but you should continue the training even without him. While researching Occlumency, I found that if you organize your thoughts into "files" then you will be more organized, and thus, be able to retain more knowledge, along with an increase at the rate you read. Finally, the last benefit is that you can control your temper. _

_Now with that out of the way, I am going with my family to France this year for vacation, so I will not be able to talk with you until September the first. Remember to have fun, Harry!_

_A tout À l'heure! Err… see you later,_

_Hermione _

Harry sat there, letter left forgotten, holding the book that was promising to be a great read. The book was entitled "_The Mind, and You__ by Anonymous_." He picked the unusual book up and promptly sat down on his bed and looked through the table of contents:

_Table of Contents:_

_I. An Introduction_

_II. Sorting Your Memories _

_III. Building Your Defenses_

_IV. Advanced Techniques_

_V. Basics of Legilimency_

With his interest sparked, he opened the book and read the following introduction:

_Dear Reader, _

_This book was written for witches and wizards to defend their mind against Legilimency, also known as Occlumency. Occlumency is the art of intrusion and influence - the defensive counter to Legilimency . A student of Occlumency is referred to as an Occlumens. _

_Occlumency is a necessary to defeat a Legilimens' "lie detector" abilities without having to look at the attackers face and without eye contact. Basic Occlumency includes clearing the mind of thought and emotion so that the Legilimens can find no emotional ties to memories that the target wishes to hide. _

_Know this, reader, _

_that simple resistance to attack requires similar skills to those needed to fight off the Imperious Curse. In its more advanced form, Occlumency allows the user to suppress only feelings and memories that contradict what the user wishes a Legilimens to believe, thus allowing the Occlumens to lie without self-betrayal._

_I Strongly recommend that you study the chapters in order and have patience when beginning the first two sections. It is tough work, but with enough practice, you will become proficient enough in Occlumency that you may be able to block your thoughts from eavesdropping people. _

_The only reason I have decided to put Legilimency in this book is because, like all magic, when defending against it, you must learn of what you are defending against._

_Sincerely,_

_The Author_

Harry looked over at the clock on his desk. It was already 5:00 in the afternoon. 'wow,' Harry thought, 'that took me longer then I thought. I best get to the other letters waiting for me. I cant believe I forgot them.'

He opened the next letter.

**Mr. Harry James Potter,**

**It has come to our attention that one Mr. Sirius Black is now deceased. In accordance with his will, Mr. Black has named you his sole beneficiary. Because of this, Gringotts has required your attendance to take care of all legal matters. If, for whatever reason, you are unable to make an appointment within fourteen days, then the Ministry of Magic will step in and distribute Mr. Black's possessions to whom they see fit.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Goldtooth**

** Black Family, Account Manager**

Harry wiped his eyes with his sleeve, drying the tears that were running down his cheeks, and said "Oh god… I guess its final… he really is gone. I - I - I always thought there would be some way to bring him back.. But now I guess that's impossible, now. I cannot keep grieving like this forever though… He wouldn't want me to. He would want me to train to become powerful enough to get vengeance and kill the evil bastard that destroyed so many innocent people's dreams. But in order to do that, I must have a way do Diagon Alley… after this last letter."

Harry picked up the last letter from the last person Harry wanted to talk to now.

Dear Harry,

It has recently come to my attention that you have received a letter from Gringotts concerning Sirius Black. However, I cannot allow you to do this, as it would put you in too much danger and I do not have the resources available to provide adequate protection. I have decided to put more order members outside your house because of this new development. Don't let Sirius's death be in vain.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry was beyond angry. He was pissed off. 'How dare this bastard tell me that I cannot go claim my inheritance. that's fucking it. I've had enough of his fucking manipulations. Tomorrow, Dumbledore won't know what hit him.'


	2. Chapter 2

-1Chapter 2

The next morning found Harry getting up as the clock turned to 7:00. 'Oh what a wonderful day in the neighborhood,' Harry thought, sardonically. 'Well, if I need to get to Gringotts, then there is no time like the present.' And with that, he tidied himself up a bit to make himself look presentable (as presentable as you could look with clothes made to fit a whale), donned his invisibility cloak, and waited at his door. He could still hear Dudley's snores, which, to Harry, sounded like some desperate walrus mating call. With a chuckle, he went downstairs, being careful to not step on the noisy ones, and quickly made himself some toast to tide him over until he would be able to eat a more fitting meal.

Slowly and quietly he went through the back door and rounded the house, careful to not step on anything that would produce sound, as to not alert the Order. He continued down the street, being completely quiet. Upon rounding the corner, making sure no one was around, he got out of the cloak, and walked to the bus station that was not too far away.

Ten minutes after he got there, the bus pulled up. He paid his faire and told the driver to take him to London. Harry went to a secluded part of the bus, and planned out all that he would like to accomplish today.

'well, the first thing I have to do is make sure no one recognizes me, so perhaps a trip to a muggle department store is a must. I won't be able to buy much before I go to Gringotts, so maybe just a hat to hide my blasted scar… after that, I need to go to Gringotts to take care of all the legal things pertaining to the will. I am thinking about going down Knockturn Alley to look around. If the book Hermione gave me was true, then in order to fight against the Dark Arts, then I will have to submerse myself in that magic to get an understanding of how it works. I only hope that I will not turn dark. Because of the reputation that alley has, perhaps some shop will have a way for me to do magic. Maybe a time-tuner would be nice too. In Diagon Alley I will need to get all the books with shields and curses. I am also interested in getting a multi-compartment trunk like the fake Moody had. Then I would get….'

Harry was jolted out of his thoughts by the bus coming to a halt next to the London bus stop. He got out of the bus, and set off to find a shop that sold a hat to hide that scar of his. He didn't have to look hard, and not even a block later he found a shop called "Le Chapeau Noir". Harry was almost completely clueless about what kind of a shop that was, except for the fact that in the window were hats. So, naturally, he went inside where he was greeted by a man who apparently worked there.

"Est-ce que je peux vous aider, monsieur?" The shopkeeper asked.

"Err…"

"Oh, Excusez-moi sir. I sometimes forget that I am in Britain and not France. May I help you, sir?

"Oh ok. Well, I need a hat. Something inconspicuous, but will be able to cover up my scar" Harry pulled up his bangs and showed him his unique scar.

"I see," the man said. "I think I have just the hat for you. Follow me, young sir." The man led Harry to a small selection of hats that fit the description that Harry gave and ended up going with a small black hat that set upon his head perfectly.

"This one will do. How much is it?"

"That particular one is 10 pounds." Harry then paid him the exact amount and left the shop, with his new hat on his head, effectively stopping people from spotting his scar.

Harry went back the way he came, and shortly thereafter found the Leaky Cauldron. He took a sigh of relief when he looked around the magical pub and found that there was only the patron around, and he didn't even notice Harry walk in, as he was busy cleaning the bar area, getting ready for the midday rush. Harry quickly slipped past Tom and made his way to the door at the opposite end of the bar, which led to the gateway to Harry's destination.

After tapping the correct bricks, he was admitted to Diagon Alley. Harry was not sure what to expect since it has been over two years since his last visit. Compared with his last trip there, this time around, there was a more serious aura about this place. Sighing, he walked past what few people that dared to walk around the alley without any regard for their safety.

He finally reached the numerous white steps of his first destination, Gringotts. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath to compose himself for the inevitable chaos that was bound to come after this meeting. Walking up the stairs felt like it took an eternity, which, in truth, took only a few seconds. Finally, he pulled open the gigantic doors and found himself walking through the monstrously huge hall, where goblins lined the walls, helping the customers with their monetary needs. Only one goblin sat separated from the rest, and it was obvious he was one of the higher members in the Gringotts hierarchy, so, Harry reasoned, he was the one Harry needed to talk to.

"What do you want?" the goblin asked with a small sneer, with an air of someone who was interrupted from something important. (Like counting money, as this is what the goblin was doing)

"Sorry, sir for interrupting your counting, but I received an owl from Goldtooth concerning Sirius's will, and was told to come to Gringotts to take care of the legal matters concerning his will," Harry said apologetically.

"One moment, sir." The goblin snapped his fingers, and soon, a fellow goblin came over to assist.

Harry felt like he know this goblin from somewhere. He had no hair on his head, pointed nose, and pointed ears. Suddenly it clicked. "Griphook?" Harry cautiously asked.

The goblin in question looked shocked, making his face almost comical, his eyes widened in surprised and his mouth dropped, exposing his sharp, pointy teeth. Goblins were always well known for their control of their facial expressions, so it was astounding that this goblin looked the way he did at the moment.

Soon after, the goblin regained his control over his countenance and responded "How do you know my name, sir?"

"I remember you taking me to my vault when I was eleven. You looked like him, and I felt like I knew you. Sorry if I offended you." Harry said, sheepishly.

"Oh, no. You just surprised me. No one has ever taken the time to remember my name. Most of the wizarding community only see us as servants and treat us as we were inferior. It is rare to see someone treat us with so much politeness as you do," Griphook said "now, with that aside, follow me so I may show you to the location of the meeting."

With that, Griphook led Harry through some doors that appeared to be made of solid gold. As Harry was led through a long hallway, he noticed paintings lined the walls. These goblins in the pictures looked like very prominent members in goblin society. When Harry asked Griphook this, he explained that each of those goblins used to be the president of Gringotts. Finally, Griphook led him to a door with "**Goldtooth-- Black Family Account Manager" **emblazoned on the front. When Griphook knocked, a voice was heard from inside.

"Enter." The door was pulled open and Harry went inside, Griphook letting the door close silently behind him. "Well, Mr. Potter, I wasn't expecting you for quite some time, but no matter. Please sit." He gestured to a very comfortable chair in front of his desk. When Harry obliged, Goldtooth continued. "As I said in my letter, we have a few legal matters concerning the late Mr. Black. Now, per the wishes of the deceased, this is a copy of Mr. Black's will. In it, the deceased stated that you are the sole heir to the Black fortune, including any properties and titles associated with the Black name."

"What do you mean, properties and titles?" Harry asked, confusedly.

"Exactly what I said, Mr. Potter. Any Black estates, controlling shares in companies… basically anything owned by the Blacks is now yours. Titles, however, are used by the Head of the Black House. Most old and prestigious families have them. I am pretty sure your family has them, but if my suspicions are correct, you are not aware of them… we will go over my suspicions at the conclusion of our meeting. Continuing on… it is very unorthodox, but well within his rights, to select a person not related by blood to replace him when he dies. With being a Head of a Family, and being underage, your new status as Head of the Black family has made you emancipated in the eyes of the law. The reason for this that you must have the ability to make decisions that manage the family."

"What type of decisions are you talking about?"

At this, the goblin pulled out a file, looked at it, and responded. "It says in this file, that you are currently paying a stipend of 100 galleons to Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy per month. You also have controlling shares in several companies as I mentioned before. These companies include _Borgin and Burkes, Flourish and Blotts, _and _The Daily Prophet. _Those are the major businesses. The other forty-seven companies are small specialty shops including _With Yew in Mind, _a custom wand shop in Knockturn Alley, and _L'Épée Pointue,_1 a weapon specialty shop located in Diagon Alley."

"Wow. Is there a way to stop Mrs. Malfoy's allowance? I don't want any wife of a Death Eater getting any more money from me. She can survive on the Malfoy account. I'm a little curious… how much money do I have currently?"

"I will answer your questions in order. First, you may stop the payments anytime you wish. Now, with the second question…" Goldtooth snapped his fingers and a new goblin walked in. "Bring me the Potter files," Goldtooth said authority.

"Right away, sir," the new goblin responded while bowing before high-tailing it to retrieve the files. Moments later, the same goblin came back, panting. "Here you are, sir."

"Thank you. You are excused." When the goblin left, Goldtooth continued. "Well, in the Black vaults, you have currently 3,658,478 galleons, 601,200 sickles, and 350,021 knuts. That is approximately 18,472,763.44 pounds. In addition to that, the Potter vault has 908,556 galleons and no sickles or knuts. Now, that, is interesting. The Potter vault is much older than the Black's. So it would be safe to assume that you would have much more money then what the Black family has. But this is not the case. You actually have less. Far less then the Black family. It might say why in your file." At that, Goldtooth fell silent and began looking in the file more thoroughly. Finally, after quite some time he looked over at Harry with a glint in his eyes. "Tell me… were you ever notified by Gringotts, not counting my letter, before?"

"No, I haven't. Should I have?"

"Yes you should have. Every single month we mail out letters to our clients with all the information about how much you have in your account and all the transactions you have made in the past month. It is disturbing that you have not gotten these, I am led to believe that your magical guardian has blocked you from this information."

"Who is my magical guardian?" Harry asked with a sense of dread rising in the pit of his stomach.

"Albus Dumbledore." The sense of dread in Harry quickly reverted to anger, almost on the verge of hate. To Goldtooth, Harry looked like one very pissed off daemon, what with his emerald green eyes quickly turning to pitch black, radiating some sort of powerful electricity.

"Is there a way for me to not have him in that position?" Harry asked, almost growling with barely uncontrolled anger.

"You do not need to. You see, because you are emancipated now, thanks to your status, you have no need for a guardian.

"The reason I asked was that your file shows that you have donated large sums of money to the… Turkey Club and the Weasley family. It seems as though that every year money has been taken out of your account and distributed to these two name."

If Harry had been angry before, he was pissed off now. He felt power flow through him violently. The glass objects around the office were rattling as if the office was the epicenter for an earthquake.

"Mr. Potter! Calm down! If you do not, you will blow everything in this building to smithereens. Just take a deep breath. We will get this taken care of."

After what seemed like forever, the rattling ceased, but the fire in Harry's eyes wouldn't be diminished. "I swear I will make Dumbledore, the douche bag pay for what he did. He only treats me as a weapon to be used on the final battle and discard me when my task is done." Harry said, without noticing that he was talking out loud.

The goblin was intrigued. "What do you mean a weapon?"

"Oh-- uhh… didn't realize I was talking out loud. Well, it couldn't hurt to tell you… there is a prophesy about me which states that I am the only one to kill Voldemort. Dumbledore knew from the day it was made, but never told me until a few months ago. I have to kill old snake-face, but Dumbledore doesn't train me. Does that make sense," Harry asked rhetorically, "so I have to take the initiative and train on my own."

"Mr. Potter, I am greatly surprised by this information. I am glad you have confided this in me. What I am about to say is highly unorthodox, but I would like to help you go in the right direction, so to speak."

"How would you do that?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"Gringotts recently came into possession of a potion that will tell the drinker what abilities he or she has. I would like to offer this potion to you so you can find out what you are capable of."

"Really? Wow. Yes, I'll take that potion. I'm very grateful to you, Goldtooth." Harry said, reverently.

"Since you accepted my help, I will be back in a moment." With that the goblin went through a pair of double doors that were right behind his desk.

Harry started thinking about everything he was taught about how the magical community thinks about magic in general. 'Magic is just that: magic,' Harry reasoned. 'I never really thought about it before, but couldn't a simple levitation charm kill someone as easily as the killing curse? How about the banishing charm? You could just as easily banish knives to kill someone. Any spell can be used for evil purposes, but most people don't because their intent is different then someone like Voldemort. Also, the Unforgivables could be used for good. If someone is in a burning house and they are transfixed with fear and they cant move, you could use Imperio on the person to make them move out of harms way. Even the Killing Curse, even though I am loathe to admit it, can do good too. If someone had an incurable sickness and every day that person suffered, wouldn't it be more humane to Avada Kedavra? The Cruciatus Curse could be used by healers if patients are closed off from everyone else subconsciously, then a small blast of the Cruciatus could get them the help the victim needs. So by this line of thinking, there is no Light magic and Dark magic. Only magic with intent….' Harry would have gone on, if it weren't for Goldtooth walking in the office at that moment, carrying a small vile and a piece of paper. After sitting back down at the desk, the goblin handed Harry the vile filled with a dark, green liquid.

"Drink that, Mr. Potter, then soon after, everything that the potion has found will appear on this paper." the goblin said.

'Well, here goes nothing.' Harry thought as he drank the vile, grimacing at the aftertaste. 'Why can't potions ever taste better?'

After a minute, words started appearing on the paper.

_Abilities and dormant powers_

_for Harry James Potter_:

_Abilities:_

_Parselmouth_

_Metamorphmagus_

_Multi-Animagus_

_Occlumency Master_

_Sword Master_

_Dual Wielder _

_Immune to all Poison_

_Dormant Powers:_

_Elemental Sorcerer _

_Necromancer _

_Techno Mage_

_ Unable to be developed until the 3 magical blocks on the magic core are destroyed. _

"These are some very powerful abilities, Mr. Potter. It seems as though every time I find something else about you, I get more surprised. You may be wondering about the magical blocks that were found. Magical blocks are very uncommon, but not illegal. Blocks are used on powerful children who run the risk of performing powerful accidental magic. The thing that makes this so unusual is that all blocks must come off when the child enters Hogwarts for the first time. According to this test, you still have yours, which is preventing you from achieving your full potential." Goldtooth said, softly.

"How do I get them off? What do I have to do?" Harry said determinedly

"What you must do is say the words _Dalla mie vita e magia, rimuova i blocchi sul mio nucleo magico!_2Then point your wand at yourself and make a circle. Be careful though. The pain for removing just one block will be excruciating. All three will be on par with the Cruciatus Curse, so plan to use a Silencing Charm before hand and have a Pain-Relieving potion next to you."

"Thank you, Goldtooth. I will make sure I do all those thinks you suggested. One thing has been nagging my mind though: who has been managing the Potter account and who employed him?"

"A goblin named Grindrod has been employed by your ex-guardian."

"What the Fuck? It seems to me as though Dumbledore has been controlling me from day one. Is there a way to fire Grindrod?"

"Yes there is. If you are unhappy with his work, you can file the paperwork I have here. Just sign everywhere applicable and he will receive the notice of the change of his status immediately." Goldtooth said as Harry signed his name with great fervor. "Now that that is done, you will have to manage your accounts yourself, which I am sure you will do a good job with."

"actually, I was wondering if you could manage the Potter account too. Since you manage the Black accounts, and I am the head of the Black family, it would make a lot of sense to have you managing both accounts. Besides, you have been most helpful to me and I will be forever thankful to you."

"You do realize that never in the history of Gringotts Bank has one goblin been trusted enough to manage two accounts concurrently?" Goldtooth asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Um, no, I didn't know. But I trust you more then anyone else here at this bank. I would feel much more comfortable with you handling those accounts. Besides, I think, if I am correct, that you seem to hold no respect for the great Albus Dumbfuck." Harry said, smirking slightly at the end of his response.

"You are correct about Albus. He once tried to talk me into giving the control of the Black vaults over to himself. Needless to say, it didn't work and Dumbledore was quite upset. Believe me. You will never see anything more fun to watch in your life than seeing one of Dumbledore's plans failing." Goldtooth said, amiably. "And yes, I will be honored to manage both of your accounts. Is there anything else that we needed to talk about?" After getting a negative response, he continued "As delightful as this conversation is, I have paperwork to file and then to look over all the documents in the Potter-Black accounts and make all the possible arrangements. I will get in touch with you in a few days to let you know how progress is coming. Do not look for an owl. I know how easily they can be diverted and intercepted. Well, Mr. Potter, this has been a very informative and beneficial meeting. Let me show you out." Goldtooth and Harry stood.

As Goldtooth rounded the desk, Harry asked "Would I be able to keep that paper that came with the potion?"

"Yes you may, Mr. Potter." the goblin shook Harry's hand and wished him a prosperous day before showing Harry out and shutting the door behind him.

Harry went back out to the main lobby and met the same goblin that he talked to when he first got here.

"Mr. Potter, how may I help you?"

"I was wondering if I could visit my vault?"

"Sir, if I may, would I be able to offer you a never-ending money pouch? All you have to do is repeat the amount of money you need, with the type of currency. It will work even in the muggle world. When you go to a muggle shop and say the amount, they will only hear coughing coming from you, so they will never suspect anything."

"Wow. That's wonderful. How much is it?" Harry asked, wonderingly.

"The price is 50 galleons for the first month, and every month after that is only 5 galleons. You may also end this service anytime you wish, but you will still have to pay the 5 galleons for the month you had it."

"I will take it." The goblin handed him a red velvet coin pouch.

"Have a good day, Mr. Potter." The goblin said friendly.

"You also." Harry responded. 'Now, with that taken care of, I must have something to eat. This morning's toast wasn't very filling. Next stop: The Leaky Cauldron." Making sure his hat was firmly in place and wand in his pocket, he headed out of Gringotts and onto the busy place of Diagon Alley.


End file.
